The Mute Princess
by jameygamer
Summary: Just a little change in events can lead to a drastically different result. Ariel succeeded in her quest for true love and the human world and soul, but discovers the price that had to be paid for it.


**Hello, this is Jameygamer. In honor of the 25th anniversary of the original home video release of the Walt Disney "Black Diamond" Classic The Little Mermaid, I made the tearful decision to write a fic where Eric and Ariel do fall in love without Ursula being able to interfere. This particular change of events does give Ariel the life she wanted, but this means Triton never finds out what happened to her, and more importantly, she loses something else...**

 **I will start this as a one-shot, but I may make this a series.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Little Mermaid. All characters in this story are copyrighted to The Walt Disney Company.**

 **Copying of this story without my permission will be investigated and punished.**

 **The Mute Princess**

Tears streamed down Ariel's face as she looked at her prince. Tears both of happiness, and sadness, for all the things she had to sacrifice to reach this moment. As the priest asked for her vow, she nodded her beautiful head and smiled. She wish she could say how much she loved Eric, but her voice was one of the prices she had to pay.

It had been several days since their boat ride in the grove. Sebastien sung a very romantic song in the grove, and Ariel and Eric almost kissed... then their boat flipped over and dropped them into the lake. They were unharmed, thankfully, but Flounder DID notice something, and he and Sebastien swam off to investigate it. Ariel and Eric were drying themselves off on shore when Flounder reported back and noted that the two eels that served Ursula were spying on them, but they will NOT interfere again.

Several hours later, Ariel was using the dinglehopper to comb her hair for bed, when she heard a knocking on the door. Ariel opened the door, and Eric was there, having come up from the beach after contemplating life on the beach. He bowed, and stood there, needing to say something.

Finally, he did.

"Uhh, Ariel? That was.. a really nice boat ride in the lagoon. Did you have fun today? You were quite taken in by the kingdom. I, I don't remember the last time I met someone with the energy, passion, and care like you. So... did you have fun?"

Ariel smiled and nodded eagerly and happily, and just jumped right into Eric's arms, startling him. Eric smiled himself, and his thoughts on that dream girl, that one whose voice he could only remember, it faded as he embraced the reality that he had a real dream girl, right here in his arms.

Grimsby was right. The whole chase for that girl wasn't worth it. But why did he feel like the search was still a success?

He looked into her eyes, which glistened with hope, and, just like that, they kissed.

Ariel closed her eyes as a warm feeling enveloped her body. She could feel it.

This was true love's kiss.

Eric embraced Ariel, now knowing he had what he could ever want in life.

They parted, and Ariel smiled. Eric turned around, and chuckled in embarrassment at what had just happened. He looked back, and Ariel had flopped on the bed, drifting into near sleep.

"Good night, Ariel. See you in the morning."

He closed the door, and while Ariel lay there, she felt the spell cast on her take full effect. But then it caused her to shed tears. With this, there WAS no going back.

She was a human. She wouldn't see her family again. She wanted to cry, but discovered she had no voice. That was the payment, and it was final. Slowly, she cried herself into a deep sleep.

Several days later, a wedding had been arranged on a boat. The prince had to be wed at a certain time, and time couldn't wait any longer.

Ariel had bid her friends goodbye, and, because of their actions, took an oath never to tell. Flounder and Sebastian swam back into the sea, and she then boarded the boat.

And that brought her mind back to the wedding. After receiving the rings, the priest said, "You may kiss the bride", and Ariel and Eric embraced once again as the gallery erupted into applause.

She smiled at the gallery. She wanted to say something, but words couldn't match her feelings. It was semisweet, knowing she could never again speak, much less sing. All she needed to hope for now was the life ahead.

The groom and his mute princess waved, just married.

 **Sorry this took so long, guys! I can't keep focused.**

 **I can try to upgrade this, so reviews would be appreciated.**


End file.
